FFXII New World: Sins of the Past
by Frontline
Summary: Fang and Vanille's adjustment to being reborn in the New World is interrupted when they find an injured man on their doorstep. Vanille feels sympathy with him and wants to try and prevent him from making the same mistakes she did, over Fang's objections.


'Can I drive?' Vanille asked, skipping towards the garage and Fang shook her head.

'We're just taking a short drive into town, Vanille. Besides, I've just got the jeep repaired from the last time you got behind the wheel...'

'That was an accident, Fang.' Vanille pouted, reaching the door of the garage. 'Anyone could have hit that...'

'Wait!' Fang said, putting her arm out to stop Vanille. 'Look.'

Vanille followed her gaze to where the garage door was ajar and she looked up at Fang, who pulled out her pistol.

'Wait here.' Fang began, but Vanille cut her off.

'No way!'

'...alright. But stay behind me.'

Fang opened the door to the garage, revealing the figure of a man curled on the floor, his arms wrapped across his stomach.

'Vanille!' Fang yelled as she ran past her, dropping to her knees next to the man.

'He's been stabbed. Get the Medkit, quickly.'

Fang opened the rear door of the jeep and grabbed the Medkit, while Vanille checked for a pulse.

'He's still alive.' She said, pulling out a pressure dressing and pressing it to his side, wrapping it into place with a bandage. 'We need to get him inside.'

'Vanille...'

'We can't let him die, Fang.'

'...alright.' Fang said, putting her pistol back into her waistband. 'Come on...'

Vanille and Fang carried him into their spare bedroom and laid him on the bed, Vanille setting to work. She quickly removed his dressing and pulled up his shirt, her fingers probing the wound in his side.

'Single stab wound. It's fairly deep, but I don't think it hit any vital organs...'

'Uhhh...'

The man gave a groan, his eyes flickering open and he struggled to focus on Vanille.

'It's alright.' She said, as gently as she could. 'You're safe.'

'Wh...what happened?' He asked. 'Where am I?'

'You're safe. Someone stabbed you, but you're going to be fine.' She repeated as his eyes flickered down to his stomach, giving another groan.

'Sshh. You're okay.' Vanille said. 'What's your name?'

'...Jesse.'

'Hi, Jesse. I'm Vanille.' She said, opening her medkit and taking out a small syringe from her suture kit. 'I need to clean and stitch your wound. Okay?'

'...okay.' Jesse said, lying back and wincing as Vanille administered the injection and started to irrigate the wound.

'Do you know who stabbed you?' She asked, threading her needle deftly and Jesse shook his head.

'...no.'

'Okay. I'm done. I'm just going to give you a shot of antibiotics and you need to rest for a while. I'll come and check on you later. Okay?

'...Okay.'

Vanille stood up, gesturing for Fang to follow her out into the corridor, closing the door behind her.

'I've done all I can. Now, he needs to rest.'

'I don't like this.' Fang said. 'We don't even know who he is. You know why we choose to live out here. We've already had that reporter coming round and asking questions about Lightning. The last thing we need is to draw anymore attention to ourselves.'

'What do you want to do? Turn him away?'

'...No. But, I still don't like it...

Vanille looked up when she heard the knock at the front door, exchanging a glance with Fang. Gesturing for her to stay put, Fang stood up and tucked her pistol in the waistband of her trousers and covered it with her shirt before opening the door.

'...Yes?'

'Morning, Ma'am. Sheriff Mitchell, County Police. May I come in?'

'...Sure.' Fang said, stepping back.

'Thank you kindly, Ma'am.' Sheriff Mitchell said, taking off her hat and stepping inside.

'Sorry to trouble you folks so early, but we're making some routine inquiries. Have you seen this man?' She reached inside her jacket and pulled out a photograph of Jesse.

'...no.' Fang said, passing it over to Vanille. 'What's he done?'

'We just need to talk him in connection with our enquiries, ma'am. If you should see him, please contact the Sheriff's office.'

Sheriff Mitchell took back the photo and picked up her hat, heading towards the door.

'Anyway, sorry for disturbing you folks.'

'No trouble, Sheriff.' Fang said, closing the door and turning back to Vanille.

'We have a problem...'

'Jesse?' Vanille said, knocking on the door, balancing the tray in her other hand. 'Can I come in?'

'What do you want?'

'I've...brought some soup. I thought you might be hungry.'

'...fine.'

Vanille eased the door open and crossed to the bed, setting the soup down next to him.

'Thank you.' Jesse said, without looking round, staring fixedly at the ceiling. When Vanille didn't leave, he turned towards her, his eyes narrowing.

'What?'

'The...Police were here looking for you.' She said and he sat up, wincing in pain.

'Wh...ahh...what did you tell them?'

'N...nothing.' Vanille said and Jesse lay back, returning to staring at the ceiling.

'Okay...'

'Have you...remembered anything else. Anything about who stabbed you or what happened?'

'Why do you keep asking?'

'If you're in trouble, we can help.. '

'I don't need any help!' Jesse snapped.

'Okay. You need to eat something.'

Vanille backed up to the door and out into the corridor, easing it shut behind her.

'What were you doing?'

Vanille turned to see Fang standing with her arms folded across her chest.

'I was just taking Jesse some soup.'

'You shouldn't be alone with him, Vanille. He's dangerous.'

'He's hurt, Fang. And I think he's in trouble.'

'That's not our problem, Vanille. How long until he's recovered?

'...at least until tomorrow morning.'

'Fine. After that, he's out of here.'

'Jesse?' Vanille said, pushing open the door to the spare room. 'Are you awake? I need to change your bandages and...'

She stopped when she saw that the bed was empty and the covers thrown back.

'Damn...'

Vanille eased open the door to the garage, peering around in the gloom.

'Jesse?' She called. 'Are you in here...?' Vanille asked, peering around in the gloom of the garage. Then, she froze when she heard the click of a pistol safety being released and Jesse stepped out of the shadows.

'Step away from the door.' He said and Vanille obeyed.

'What are you doing?' she asked, as Jesse closed the door behind her.

'I'm getting out of here.' He said, gesturing towards the Jeep. 'Get in.'

'You don't need to do this.' Vanille said. 'You're safe here...'

'Right. I need to get out of here while I can. Now, get in.'

Vanille climbed into the passenger seat as Jesse opened the garage doors, suddenly flattening himself against the wall as Sherrif Mitchell's voice boomed from a loudhailer.

'Police. Put your weapon down and come out with your hands up...'

Damn...

'Shit...' Jesse muttered, closing the door and leaning against it. 'What am I gonna do, now?'

'What's going on, Jesse?' Vanille asked, stepping out of the jeep. 'What do the Police want with you?'

'It's nothing.' Jesse said, running his hand through his hair. 'Now, shut up. I need to think...'

'What's going on?' Vanille repeated and Jesse rounded on her.

'I killed a man. Okay? I killed someone!'

'...How?'

'It was an accident. He jumped me outside a bar and wanted my wallet. I hit him and he pulled a knife. That's where I got this.' He said, pulling up his shirt. 'We struggled and he fell. He must have landed on the knife. There was so much blood, everywhere... Oh, God, what am I gonna do?'

'You can't run away from this, Jesse.' Vanille said. 'You need to give yourself up and...'

'Are you crazy? I killed a man...'

'And running away won't solve anything!'

'What do you know about it? Have you ever killed anyone?'

'...no. But I've done things that I'm not proud of and I've kept the truth from my friends. I was running away from what I'd done, but it couldn't escape, no matter how hard I tried. It was only when I admitted what I'd done that I could finally put it behind me and move on. Now, you can try and drive out of her with me as a hostage. And maybe, just maybe, you'll get out of here without being shot. But, if you do, you'll never stop running. Ever.'

She stepped back, holding out her hands away from her sides.

'Now, you can leave if you want, but you're going to have to shoot me first.'

Jesse hesitated for a second before raising the gun and aiming it at her chest.

'It's the only way.' Vanille said. 'It's your choice.'

Jesse's finger tightened on the trigger for a second, before letting the gun drop to the ground and he fell to his knees, looking up at Vanille.

'What am I gonna do?'

'I don't know.' Vanille said, kneeling down and picking up the gun, ejecting the magazine. 'But, you won't do it alone...'

Dropping the gun at his feet, she tucked the magazine into her belt and walked towards the garage doors, pushing them open slowly...

'Are you okay?' Fang asked, wrapping Vanille in a fierce hug.

'I'm fine.' She said, turning to watch the Police bring Jesse out, his hands cuffed behind his back.

'What will happen to him?' Vanille asked and Sherriff Mitchell shrugged.

'He killed a man.' Sherriff Mitchell said. 'He'll need to stand trial.'

'It was self-defence. Someone was trying to kill him...'

'We'll take that into consideration.' Mitchell said, gesturing for her men to load him into the 4x4. 'I'll need both of you to come down to the Station and make a statement.'

'Vanille...' Fang said, a hint of warning in her voice as she watched Sherriff Mitchell drive away.

'I'm not going to abandon him, Fang. I won't let him do this alone...'


End file.
